For Immediate Release
October 29, 2002

Skoll Releases Results of Online Community Survey

San Jose, CA - eBay pioneer, Jeff Skoll founded the Skoll Foundation (Skoll) in 1999 with a vision of a world in which healthy communities flourish and individuals have opportunities to reach their full potential. Empowerment guides Skoll's work and is at the root of its new effort to find a way to build community online. Inspired by eBay's success at creating an infinitely expansive virtual community, Skoll conducted a survey in June 2002 to explore aspirations for an online learning community that would address the unique needs of the nonprofit/public benefit and philanthropic sectors. Analysis of the survey results is available online.

Skoll invited more than 2,800 individuals to respond to its online survey, which investigated their interests, issues, and the potential for an online community. The 377 survey respondents represented a broad spectrum, including philanthropists, academics, and professionals from the nonprofit, foundation, and business sectors.

The results suggest resounding support for a new online community. Survey respondents by and large are not only enthusiastic, they are hungry for an online community that would offer opportunities to network, to learn, and to share professional expertise and resources.

Respondents expressed optimism that such a community could make them more knowledgeable - and hence, more effective -- as individuals, which in turn could make their organizations more effective in serving their constituents and their communities. Several suggested that now is the time. As one respondent noted: "Philanthropy is on the brink of incredible change -- and it has great potential that will require us, as professionals, to be open to other disciplines and fields to learn how it will work."

These results suggest that there is a need for an online community where individuals can learn about and shape the emerging trends in nonprofit management and philanthropy, as well as share promising practices, innovations, theories of change, and success stories. As one respondent stated, "sharing information is one of the most valuable benefits of any community. The more sharing, the more we learn, and the more we can all benefit."

Download a Summary of the Report:
PDF (224KB)

Download the Full Report:
MS Word (807KB)

Contact:
Terry Nagel - Skoll Foundation
media@skollfoundation.org

Contact:
Terry Nagel - Skoll Foundation
media@skollfoundation.org